Consultant on TEEB National Implementation - LEVEL A

Result of Service

1. Provision of technical advice to municipalities within Alimenta Cidades +1000, leading to opportunities to upscale the inclusion of UPA in public policy such as specific laws, regulatory frameworks, and programmes. 2. Identification of successful policies and initiatives at the state and municipal levels, alongside the development of concrete policy recommendations to strengthen and formalize the role of states within the National UPA Policy and Programme. 3. Formulation of actionable recommendations to improve multilevel governance arrangements and implementation capacity at city and state level, drawing on pilot projects and lessons learned from TEEBAgriFood capacity building strategy replicated in 48 cities.

Work Location

Home based

Expected duration

6 months (Part time)

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Setting: The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. UNEP Ecosystems Division works with international and national partners, providing technical assistance and capacity development for the implementation of environmental policy, and strengthening the environmental management capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources are the basis of agriculture. The agricultural sector provides important benefits such as food for humans and animals, fiber for industrial and artisanal production, materials for fuel, employment, and cultural cohesion. However, it is the main driver of the degradation of ecosystems, the loss of biodiversity, health externalities, and greenhouse gas emissions, among others. Many of these impacts, both positive and negative, are economically invisible and are not included in public and private decision-making. The UNEP The Economics of Nature Unit (TEN) within the Ecosystems Division hosts the TEEBAgriFood initiative which is designed to demonstrate that the economic environment in which agricultural producers operate is subject to negative and positive externalities and that they depend on well-functioning ecosystems. The initiative seeks to demonstrate that the entire agricultural value chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption and waste) not only has an impact on the environment but also on socio-economic well-being, particularly of small producers, on public health and food security. The overall objective of the DG-INPTA project is to enhance agrobiodiversity governance and agroecological practices for sustainable agri-food systems by making the economic case for such approaches through the implementation of the TEEBAgriFood framework. Building on UNEP’s previous work on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA), the project´s specific objective in Brazil is to inform multi-level decision-making processes by applying the TEEBAgriFood framework to make the economic case for scaling of agrobiodiversity-based, agroecological in urban and peri-urban spaces. To achieve this objective, this project will generate valuable data and practical tools to make visible multiple values, benefits and trade-offs of biodiverse UPA—particularly the ecosystem services provision—aiming to inform decision-making on how cities and their residents can gain from more diverse, localized, agroecological, and climate-resilient food systems. By shaping outputs according to policy needs, the project aims to contribute to strengthening on the ground implementation of agroecological and biodiverse UPA and support the establishment of an enabling institutional and governance framework at national and subnational level. An expected outcome of the project is that national and subnational authorities allocate additional land and resources to UPA upscaling, informed by TEEBAgriFood assessments of ecosystem services, cost–benefit performance, and distributional effects. In addition, a second outcome is that the public sector adopts specific legislation, regulatory frameworks, or commitments on gender-responsive agroecological practices in UPA, supported by evidence and technical assistance provided by the project. The research partner FGVCes will be conducting assessments and valuation of UPA benefits and trade-offs—including ecosystem services, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, gender and social dimensions—in scenario assessments of plausible policy options. The aim of these scenario analyses is to inform decision-making that recognizes the value of adopting agrobiodiversity conservation commitments and agroecological practices across the value chain. This position is in the Biodiversity and Land Branch of the Ecosystem Division. The incumbent will report to the Head of The Economics of Nature Unit. Duties and Responsibilities: Duties and responsibilities of the consultant will include: • Coordinate and implement the subnational mainstreaming strategy for the TEEBAgriFood Brazil project, including assessing key institutions and actors working on food systems and developing recommendations for policy integration. • Collaborate with the TEEBAgriFood Brazil team and national research partners to gather project data, methodologies, and results, and support their translation into evidence-based policy recommendations. • Adapt technical outputs from the TEEBAgriFood project into clear, accessible, non-technical language for communication and policy outreach purposes. • Plan, organize, and support the implementation of events, workshops, working groups and meetings, including Steering and Technical Committees. • Participate in feedback meetings with ministries, conduct field visits, and engage in events to disseminate TEEBAgriFood assessment results and policy recommendations. • Coordinate and contribute to policy dialogue processes on UPA, fostering articulation between municipal, state, and federal stakeholders. • Support TEEBAgriFood field activities, engaging local and regional stakeholders and contributing to the production of written, audio, and visual dissemination materials. • Provide tailored technical assistance to selected municipalities and states in the development of laws, regulatory frameworks, programmes, and projects in urban agriculture, grounded in TEEBAgriFood scientific evidence. • Assist municipalities and states in designing roadmaps for the implementation of UPA policies, ensuring alignment with broader urban and peri-urban food systems strategies. • Identify and analyze relevant and cross-sectoral policies related to UPA at municipal and state levels, highlighting entry points, gaps, and opportunities for policy integration. • Collaborate to ensure that proposed legal and policy instruments are adapted to the political and institutional context of each municipality and are legally sound. • Support municipalities and states in identifying and accessing relevant funding sources and key policies to strengthen and scale urban agriculture initiatives.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree (Masters or above) in Environmental Science, Social Science, Agricultural science or Public Administration, Economics or Environmental Economics, or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of two (2) years of professional working experience in programme and project implementation in the field of food systems is required. Experience of stakeholder engagement at federal, state and/or municipal level is desirable. An understanding of the Brazilian environmental and agricultural political context is required Ability to translate technical and scientific evidence from TEEBAgrifood biophysical and economic assessments into accessible and actionable policy recommendations is required. Experience in stakeholder engagement and coordination across municipal, state, or federal levels is required. In-depth knowledge of the Brazilian institutional, political, and regulatory context related to urban and peri-urban agriculture, food systems, and sustainable development is required.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position fluency in oral and written English is required. The assignment will be carried out in Brazil and fluency in Portuguese is required.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.